Southern Conference Educational Fund records

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Profile Description

Collection Summary

Georgia State University Library,
Special Collections and Archives,
Atlanta

Creator:

Southern Conference Educational
Fund.

Title:

Southern Conference Educational Fund
records

Dates:

1958-1985

Quantity:

3 linear feet

Abstract:

Established in 1946 as the educational arm of the Southern
Conference for Human Welfare, the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF)
became a separate organization in 1947. Originally based in New Orleans,
Louisiana, its office later moved to Louisville, Kentucky, then to Atlanta,
Georgia. SCEF was a leading proponent of integration and civil rights in the
South, but internal disputes and financial problems led to its demise in the
1980s. The records of the Southern Conference Educational Fund span 1958-1985
(bulk 1970-1981). They include correspondence, notes and minutes from SCEF
Board and Interim Committee meetings, financial and fundraising information,
reports from SCEF chapters, information on various SCEF programs and
activities, court documents, and correspondence and indexes related the SCEF
newspaper.

Identification:

L1991-13

Language

English.

Scope and Content of the Records

The records of the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF) span
the period from 1958 to 1985. The documents in the collection are concentrated
from 1970 to 1981. They include correspondence, notes and minutes from SCEF
Board and Interim Committee meetings, financial and fundraising information,
reports from SCEF chapters, information on various SCEF programs and
activities, court documents, correspondence from the editor of the
Southern Struggle, and detailed indexes from both
the Southern Patriot and the Southern Struggle. The collection is arranged in three
series: Meeting Minutes, Reports, and Financial Reports, 1958 - 1981; Christine
A. Lutz Correspondence, 1978 - 1981; and Subject and Name Files, 1961 -
1985.

History of the Southern Conference Educational Fund

The Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF) was established in
1946 as the educational arm of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare
(SCHW). SCEF became a completely separate organization the following year and
based most of its activities out of its New Orleans, Louisiana, office. James
Anderson Dombrowski directed the group and edited its monthly newspaper, the
Southern Patriot. Dombrowski and Aubrey Williams
became the most visible figures in SCEF during the 1950s, and they helped
establish the organization as a leading proponent of integration and civil
rights in the South.

Veteran journalists and civil rights activists Anne and Carl Braden
directed SCEF from the mid 1960s into the 1970s. They forged close ties with
regional and local southern civil rights groups, kept civil rights issues in
the national media and strengthened SCEF fundraising activities. SCEF worked
closely with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from the
early 1960s on. Anti-communists in Congress and state government frequently
attacked SCEF as a communist front. In 1963, police raided the New Orleans
offices and arrested several officials for violating Louisiana's anti-communist
laws. The United States Supreme Court overturned the laws in 1965, after SCEF
challenged the arrests in court.

The Bradens moved SCEF's offices from New Orleans to Louisville,
Kentucky, in 1966. The organization continued to work toward the goal of a
southern interracial future. In July of 1973, a group of Black Panthers
kidnapped, at gunpoint, two SCEF officials, Helen Greever and Earl Scott. The
two eventually escaped, but the incident caused deep divisions within SCEF that
were evidenced over the following few months. At a SCEF board meeting in
Birmingham, Alabama, in October of 1973, board member Walter Collins denounced
several Communist Party members, including Greever, arguing that they had
placed the policies of the party over the best interests of SCEF. Collins
argued that the Communists had caused the disputes with the Panthers. He and
other board members voted to oust the Communists over the opposition of the
Bradens.

Eventually, SCEF moved to Atlanta, Georgia where internal disputes and
financial problems plagued the organization. The Southern
Patriot changed its name to the Southern Struggle.
Several local chapters, in Florida, West Virginia, and North Carolina,
remained particularly active. By 1981, however, financial problems caused the
group to consider moving to Dallas, merging with other organizations, or
disbanding altogether.

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the
Georgia State University Library online catalog (GIL). Researchers desiring
materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog
using these headings.

Lutz,
Christine.

Southern Conference
Educational Fund--Archives.

African
Americans--Education--Southern States.

School
integration--Southern States.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any
publication, including on the Worldwide Web, any material from this collection,
the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical
property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from
this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright
holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must
contain the complete citation to the original. All requests subject to
limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Separated Material

Separated material: During processing,
oversize items and printed material were separated to other Southern Labor
Archives collections. See List of Separated Material following Detailed
Description of the Collection.

Copyright to this finding aid is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this finding aid available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright to this finding aid is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this finding aid available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/